


I dream of you

by jcc_seo



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Circus, Found Family, Friends to Lovers, Inspired by Scooby Doo, M/M, Mentioned Smoking, Mystery, mentioned Claustrophobia, mentioned johnyong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:00:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28369512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jcc_seo/pseuds/jcc_seo
Summary: The carnival bought all sorts of trouble for Dream Inc. and while the mystery solving gang had to face one of their most consequential mysteries yet, Renjun just can’t stop getting slightly distracted by the all consuming crush he has on Jisung.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Park Jisung, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Lee Jeno
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24
Collections: the rensung files





	I dream of you

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I hope you enjoy!
> 
> This is prompt #RS110

Renjun was trying desperately to move away from the news reporters and flashing blue lights of the police cars and into the van. He was exhausted beyond belief and all he wanted to do was step away from the action to catch his breath, and get out of the freezing cold, into the warmth of the Dreamy Machine. 

They had just caught the villain that they’ve been struggling with for close to a month, the self-proclaimed Roboman that was breaking into technology warehouses and stealing the goods. In the end he turned out to be the lesser loved son of the CEO of the technology company on a jealous rampage. 

It was so obvious looking back at it and Renjun was frustrated with himself that he didn’t figure it out sooner. Maybe he was really starting to lose his touch. Jeno had always joked that Renjun would lose his place as the “brain of the gang” one day. 

But right now Renjun was just tired and he didn’t want to think about anything except the comfort of the van. He pulled his hood over his head and started pushing past the swarm of reporters and cops until he eventually made it past the crime scene tape and made it to the fluorescent green and blue van. To his surprise it wasn’t empty when he opened the door. 

Jisung sat in the passenger seat, knees pulled up to his chest with the bottom of his hoodie pulled over his knees like a blanket and his hands in front of the heater. Renjun couldn’t help but think how cute he looked all curled up like that. 

“Sungie, are you okay,” Renjun asked as he pulled the door of the van closed as quickly as possible to try retain some of the heat inside it. “Why aren’t you out there with the others? You love telling the reporters what happened.” 

Jisung turned around slightly to look at Renjun, “I’m fine Hyung. I’m just really cold and tired. It’s been a long night. “ 

The boy in the front seat turned back around put his hands back in front of the heater. Renjun pulled out his phone and looked at his notifications, a message from his mom congratulating him, a few tags in Instagram posts and a lot of twitter notifications all relating to articles of the amazing new victory for Dream Inc. Renjun locked his phone. If he was being honest, he wasn’t all too fond of the attention. Especially on nights like this where he feels tired in his bones. 

Deciding that he needed to lift the mood, Renjun felt like messing with Jisung a little. “Don’t pull your hoodie like that. You’ll stretch it and then whine about it for weeks.” 

Jisung smiled and turned around towards Renjun, “but I look cute in stretched out sweaters, don’t you think?” 

Renjun choked on air. 

He couldn’t deny that the younger did look cute when his hoodies were stretched out and slightly big on him but could never say it Jisung’s face.

Renjun was saved from trying to fumble out a response when the door opened and the other members piled in. 

“Here you two are,” Mark said as he took his spot in the driver’s seat, “I was starting to get a little worried. We couldn’t see you anywhere.” 

“Sorry, we were just really cold and uncomfortable.” Renjun said. 

“You two should’ve just cuddled for warmth,” Jaemin teased as he sat next to Renjun in the middle row of the van. 

“Shut up.” Renjun slapped his thigh; not in the mood for Jaemin’s jokes right now. 

Jisung turned around in his chair to try and face the others once Mark had started driving, “How was it out there?” 

“It was fine, the usual ya know. They wanted to know who it was, how we figured it out blah blah,” Hyuck said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, he had been really stressed the past few weeks and it was showing. 

Jeno moved so that he was lying down on the back seat, his head on his boyfriend’s lap. Hyuck stroked his hair gently. “That took us so long to figure out, I can’t believe it.” 

“I might actually be losing my touch.” Renjun threw his head back and sighed. He had had so many sleepless nights trying to figure it out and the exhaustion hit him hard tonight. Everyone else chuckled at Renjun’s statement. 

“Jisung and Chenle’s trap worked perfectly though! Using the magnetic forces to trap him was genius. He had so much metal in that costume that he really couldn’t go anywhere,” Haechan said, he was always proud of his youngest members. 

Renjun didn’t miss how Jisung beamed at the compliment. Renjun knew he loved being praised for his ideas, especially when it came to trapping the bad guys. “Thanks leader!”

“No problem kid. Now can we please just get home and sleep for a week solid.”

Murmured agreements filled the van and shortly after, Renjun fell asleep. 

Over the next week the gang stayed, for the most part, huddled up in their rooms and taking their much needed rest.

Renjun and Jisung had spent most of their days off in their shared room watching the entire Avatar the Last Airbender series for the third time. Occasionally Chenle would join them, claiming he was bored of his roommate because all Jaemin did was sleep. 

On the 8th day of their rest, Renjun and Jisung were squished onto Jisung’s single bed and watching some terrible rom-com when Haechan burst into their room.

“Okay you two, you’ve been cooped up here long enough,” Renjun and Jisung groaned in unison as they knew their rest time was officially over. “Look what I found today.” 

Haechan handed them a red and white flyer. 

“A carnival?” Jisung scoffed, “we’re not kids.” 

Renjun quirked an eyebrow at him, “technically you are still a kid.” 

Jisung rolled his eyes as he handed the flyer back to Haechan. He then pulled the duvet, which had begun slipping down, up over his and Renjun’s legs. 

“C’mon guys, it's opening night and there’s a circus show happening too! I think we should try to do something fun for a change. Everything’s been so doom and gloom lately,” Haechan let out one of his well practiced pouts. 

“Okay fine,” Renjun conceded, knowing their leader wouldn’t give up. “But you’re buying us cotton candy.”

Haechan turned to leave their room, “yeah yeah, whatever. Be ready to leave by 6.” 

They, to no surprise, were not ready to leave by 6 and the series of setbacks, like Jaemin having a crisis over what outfit to wear or Mark forcing everyone to eat proper food before leaving and Chenle having to run back into the house to retrieve his wallet, had Renjun feeling extremely irritated by the time they arrived at the carnival. 

Contrary to Renjun’s sour and dull mood, the carnival itself was full of life. Children ran excitedly from game booth to game booth and long lines followed the copious amount of food and snack stalls. A few flashy classic carnival attractions, such as the house of mirrors and tunnel of love, were also filled with people. All the colourfully lit rides were accompanied by screams and laughter from their riders. And in the centre of the lively carnival stood the large white and red circus tent. 

“Okay guys, where to?” Haechan asked the group after everyone had finished putting on their admission bracelets.

A series of different answers erupted from the group as everyone tried to make sure their desired activity was chosen. This resulted in the group arguing over what they should do. 

“Hey, Hey!” Renjun called over the bickering, that was making him even more annoyed than he already was. “Why don’t we just split up and meet in like an hour?” 

“I’m good with that,” Jaemin announced. “I’m going to watch the circus show if anyone wants to join me?” 

“I’ll join you!” Chenle said as he excitedly linked arms with Jaemin. Mark also decided to join them before they made their way to the circus tent. 

“We’re gonna go on the rides,” Haechan grabbed onto Jeno’s hand, not giving his boyfriend much choice on his desired activity but Jeno never minded doing things if it made his boyfriend happy. “Anyone else joining?” 

Renjun declined because wasn’t the biggest fan of rides. He knew Jisung didn’t like them either, so he wasn’t surprised when Jisung also declined. 

Once Haechan and Jeno had left them Renjun turned to Jisung. “What do you want to do?” 

“No no, its fine, you can choose.” 

Renjun sighed; Jisung was always so willing to put others before himself. “I don’t want to be here anyway. You choose.” 

Jisung pulled sleeves of his sweatshirt over his hands and began playing with their frayed ends. “Could we, maybe, go play some games?” He whispered out. 

Renjun hated that Jisung was still shy about certain things around him after all this time. “Of Course we can Sungie, which one?” 

Jisung pointed towards a ring toss game and Renjun nodded, signalling to lead the way. The crowd was making it hard for them to move anywhere fast and they kept getting separated. Eventually Renjun reached forward to grab Jisungs hand in an attempt to stop them losing each other. 

Renjuns heart fluttered when Jisung intertwined their fingers. For a second he thought he saw Jisung blush but he was sure it was all in his head. 

Once they reached the ring toss booth Jisung let go of his hand and Renjun couldn’t help but miss the contact. 

“Omg!” Jisung let out a little giggle, “look Hyung, they have a Moomin plushie! We have to win it for you.”

It amazed Renjun that the younger still thought of him when he saw the character even though he wasn’t that obsessed with it anymore. “Let’s win it then.” 

Renjun handed the unenthusiastic teller enough for one round for each of them and Jisung took the rings first.. 

“How many points do we need to get to win that plushie?” He asked the teller as he pointed at the Moomin. 

“All three.” The teller responded in a toneless voice. Renjun knew the games were rigged but he wished the teller could’ve been a little more enthusiastic.

They both failed the first round miserably and Renjun paid for another round each. This time Jisung managed to get one ring onto the peg and earned himself a mouse ear headband. Renjun managed two and won a small teddy bear. 

It took them another 3 rounds each, which also resulted in them having a little pile of small prizes, before Jisung had successfully landed all three rings onto the peg. 

He jumped up and down excitedly and Renjun let out a series of cheers. 

“Well done Sungie!” Renjun clapped.

The teller took down the plushie and handed it to Jisung, looking rather unimpressed and uninterested that they had won. 

“Here you go Hyung,” Jisung hanged Renjun the prize and Renjun took it, hugging it to his chest. 

“Thank you Jisung! It’s so cute!” Butterflies fluttered in his stomach as he looked at the adoration on the younger's face. “Woah is that the time?” Renjun was shocked to see that an hour had passed playing one game and they already had to meet their other friends. 

They both grabbed armfuls of their smaller prizes, and began forcing their way through the crowd to the food court where the had agreed to meet. They spotted their group at a table next to the popcorn cart and made a beeline for them. 

“Sorry we’re late!” Jisung apologised as he dropped all of his prizes onto the table and flopped down on the chair next to Chenle. “We were busy winning Hyung a Moomin.” 

Renjun chuckled and showed his Moomin off to the others who all rolled their eyes. 

“Another one? That your, what, 20th one?” Jaemin joked. 

Renjun took the open seat between Jisung and Jaemin and then protectively pulled the plushie to his chest. “This one’s special because Jisungie won it for me.”

Jeno fake gagged, “aww so mushy.” 

“You’re one to talk, you and Haechan are the mushiest couple out there,” Mark quipped back. 

Renjun was about to carry on the teasing, he never missed the opportunity to tease Jeno and Haechan about their relationship, but he was stopped when everything went pitch dark causing everyone in the carnival to fall silent. 

Jisung hated the dark, Renjun was very aware of this, so he instinctively laid a hand on Jisungs thigh to comfort him and he felt Jisung relax under his touch. Chenle also wasn’t a fan of the dark and he let out one of his high pitched screams. 

Jaemin hissed at the loud sound. “Calm down, It’s just a power outage.” 

“Tonight, we took one. Tomorrow, we take another,” the voice boomed throughout the dark carnival 

The lights came on soon after and a confused chatter filled arose as all the carnival goers tried to make sense of what had just happened. 

Haechan looked at everyone with furrowed eyebrows, “do you think-“

“No, no, no, this isn’t,” Jaemin changed his posture and voice as if mimicking Haechan, “another mystery to solve gang!” He crossed his arms and returned to his normal voice, “it was just part of the carnival, literally nothing happened. There’s nothing wrong.” 

“Ok, you’re right. Let’s not go looking for trouble,” Haechan conceded.

“Agreed, now can we please get out of here? I’m exhausted,” Renjun tried.

“Stop being such a drag Renjunnie, have some fun.” Mark jokingly pinched his cheeks. 

“I kinda agree, I’m ready to go,” Jeno announced.

To no surprise, Haechan was all too happy to comply with his boyfriends wishes and soon the gang was gathering their belongings and heading back to the Dream Machine. 

It was already late once they arrived home and everyone quickly made their way to their rooms and called it a night. 

Once they were tucked into their own beds, Jisung turned to face Renjun. “Do you really think it was just part of the carnival?” 

It took Renjun’s half a sleep brain a minute to realize that his roommate was talking about the blackout and the voice. 

He sighed, “I don’t know. It just felt...weird to me. But like Jaemin said, if something bad happened we would’ve seen it.” 

“You’re probably right. And you’re the smart one, so I trust you.” Jisung said as he rolled onto his other side. “Good night hyung.” 

“Goodnight Jisungie,” Renjun grabbed onto his new Moomin plushie and he fell asleep with the fuzzy feeling Jisungs compliment had created.

The next morning Renjun woke up at 6am, normal for him but early for everyone else, so he was surprised to see that Haechan was awake and sitting at the kitchen table, scrolling through his phone. 

“What’s got you up so early?” Renjun asked as he walked into the kitchen causing Haechan to jump. He obviously hadn’t noticed Renjun before. 

“Couldn’t sleep.” Haechan mumbled, locking his phone. 

Renjun turned the kettle on and sat across for the other man. “Everything okay?” 

“Yeah, I just…” Haechan sighed, “I can’t stop thinking about what happened last night, it just feels so weird.’ 

Renjun chuckled to himself, he said almost the exact same thing to Jisung last night. “I’ll be honest, I was thinking the same thing.”

“I don’t want us to go specifically looking for trouble you know, but at the end of the day, it’s what we do.”

“I get what you mean,” Renjun was now busy with making his instant coffee. “So let’s unpack. They said they took one. One what? What could that mean?” 

Haechan ran his hands through his hair, frustrated. “That’s the thing, I’ve been thinking about it all night and nothings really coming up.” 

Renjun nodded, “I mean, a complete blackout like that would be the perfect time to take something. We couldn’t see anything.” 

“That’s true.” 

“So what do you want to do? It’s your call leader.” 

“I think we should go back there tonight and see what happens, look around, ask questions.” Haechan sipped his iced cold coffee. 

Soon after their conversation the other members filed into the kitchen. Mark started making pancakes for breakfast and Jisung and Chenle excitedly helped. 

Once everyone was finished their breakfast and they all sat around the kitchen table Haechan cleared his throat and cut right to the chase. “I want to go back to the carnival tonight. Just to see if everythings okay. If it’s fine, I’ll drop this and we can move on. If we find anything, you know we have to solve it.” 

Jaemin rolled his eyes, “it was literally just a power outage.” 

“And a creepy voice with an ominous message,” Jeno added.

Mark shot Jaemin a death glare. “I agree with Haechan, let’s just go and check everything’s fine.” 

Once they had agreed to visit the carnival again Chenle let out a little excited whoop. “We get to go to the carnival again.” 

Despite the creepy incident of the first night, the carnival was just as full of life on the 2nd night, if not busier, and it was going to be hard to do proper snooping so they decided to split up again to cover more of the area. 

Haechan had split them up and told Renjun to take Jisung to, “hold his hand,” and gave him a wink which resulted in Renjun and Jisung blushing. 

Renjun and Jisung found themselves at the circus tent that was starting to empty out after a show. They snuck over the fence to the backstage area where a smaller tent sat. 

“I don’t have a good feeling about this Hyung,” Jisung whispered as he pulled Renjun back by his hoodie. 

Renjun turned to face the younger and put his hands on his shoulders. “You trust me right?”

Jisung smiled, “of course.” 

“Good because you know I’d never let anything hurt you. Now c’mon I want to see what’s in that tent.” 

They walked carefully towards the smaller tent and stopped just before its entrance. Renjun put his finger to his lips, signalling for Jisung to be quiet, once he heard voices inside it. 

He couldn’t make out exactly what was being said but it seemed like they didn’t want anyone else to hear. 

Then clear as day he heard, “we’re not alone.” 

Renjun’s blood ran cold and he knew Jisung heard it too by how comically large his eyes had gone. As quickly and as quietly as they could, the ran and ducked behind several large crates. 

As soon as they were hidden the entrance flap of the tent was opened and what Renjun could only assume to be the ringmaster stepped out, doing a general eye scan of the area.

“I think it is clear,” the ringmaster called back into the tent. 

His voice seemed so familiar but Renjun just couldn’t place it.

When the coast was clear they quickly made their way back to the main carnival to find their friends. 

“Where have you two been!” Mark rushed over to dust them both off. “You were gone for so long we were getting worried.” 

“We snuck to the backstage of the tent and-“ 

Just like the night before, the whole carnival was plunged into darkness. Chenle didn’t scream, but this time Jisung reached for Renjuns hand, which Renjun accepted. 

“Tonight we took one more. Tomorrow we take another” 

Then the lights came back on again, concern evident on everyone’s faces. 

“Okay this is creepy as hell.” Chenle spoke first. 

“Let’s get out of here and talk at home,” Renjun suggested. They really could do with the privacy and calmness. 

“Told you to hold his hand,” Haechan whispered to Renjun with another wink before they departed the carnival.

The car ride home was filled with everyone spewing out ideas and anxiously spitting out theories but comfort of their own home seemed to bring calmness and clarity to the group.

They sat huddled in their living room, varieties of tea and cocoas filled their mugs. Laptops and notebooks were perched on everyone’s laps. 

“So you really don’t just think it’s part of the carnival?” Jaemin asked for the nth time causing the group to collectively roll their eyes. 

“Trust me on this one, I just have a bad feeling-“

“Ahh yes, Haechans feelings, those are never wrong,” Jaemin set his pen down and pulled his blanket around his shoulders.

“Hey, fighting will never get us anywhere,” Chenle was always the best at placating the group. 

“He’s right guys,” Jisung joined his friend. “But something really doesn’t feel right about this. When Renjun and I were by their tent it felt… weird. They were talking like they were hiding something.” 

“And the ringmaster looked like he really didn’t want anyone to hear them- wait, it was the ringmaster who spoke over the carnival… I thought his voice sounded familiar,” It had irritated Renjun since he heard the ringmaster call back into the tent. 

Mark furrowed his eyebrows. “You’re actually right I thought I recognised the voice but I couldn’t put my finger on it.” 

The group fell silent again, not sure what to do with this information and how to move forward.

“Do you remember what this carnival is called?” Jeno scratched his head, “lets look it up, see if they’ve had stuff happen in the past or maybe see if this is just a silly carnival tradition.” 

Haechan retrieved the tattered flyer and they all began their research. 

“I literally can’t find anything,” Chenle announced. If he couldn’t find anything then the chance of anyone else finding something was very slim.

“So this place just doesn’t exist?” Mark scratched his head. 

Renjun was pulled away from the conversation by the ringing landline. “I’ll get it,” he called over everyone's heads. 

“Hello?” Renjun answered, curious to see who was calling at such an ungodly hour. 

“Uh hi, is this Dream Inc.?” The voice of a man ran through the phone. 

“Speaking, how may we help you?” Renjun really hoped it wasn’t another prank call. 

“I was wondering if I could have a meeting with you?” The man sounded unsure. 

“About what?” Renjun really didn’t have time to waste on stupid calls right now. 

“Uh, I think something happened to my boyfriend at the carnival last night. He just went missing and the police aren’t much help right now and I didn’t know who else to call.” 

Renjun’s heartbeat picked up rapidly, his and Haechan’s feelings might have been right after all.

“Thank you so much for calling us. Are you happy to meet tomorrow?”

They set up a meeting date and time for tomorrow morning at a café Renjun enjoyed using for these things. 

“Can I ask you to come prepared tomorrow? Bring detailed descriptions for us and a clear story. As well as a picture of your boyfriend, if you don’t mind. We might need to open a file.” 

“Yes of course, thank you so much.” The man sounded slightly more at ease now. 

“Sorry sir, can I have your name?” Renjun thought this is one thing he ought to know at least. They don’t do these impromptu meetings often so he was taking a risk. 

“I’m Johnny Suh.” 

“Thank you Johnny, I’m Renjun. Have a good evening and see you tomorrow.” 

It had taken Renjun some time to convince the gang to agree to the meeting but never the less, the next day the whole gang piled into the Dream Machine and made their way to the café. 

“What did you say this guy’s name was again?” Haechan asked as they made their way out of the van and to the cafés entrance. 

“Johnny.” 

“I think that’s him,” Mark pointed to the man with long blonde hair sitting by himself. He looked almost comical with his long legs squished under the tiny table. 

Renjun led the way, moving impatiently through the crowd. “Johnny?” He asked once he reached the table.

The man quickly set down his phone and stood. “Renjun?” 

“Yes, it’s nice to meet you.” 

Johnny must’ve noticed the rest of the gang standing behind Renjun as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “Sorry, I didn’t expect so many people.” 

“Yeah, we’re kinda a package deal,’ Jaemin scoffed. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Chenle had already started moving a second small table next to the first once to create more space. 

They all pulled up chairs and sat around the table. 

“So let’s cut to the chase, shall we?” When Haechan had a mystery on the line, all forms of societal filter were gone. “Tell us exactly what happened the night of the carnival. 

Johnny looked quite taken aback. “Sorry, this is… not what I expected. You’re all so young.” 

“Yeah we get that a lot, but it seems you need us anyway. ” Jeno was also good with getting information out of people. 

“Guys, lay off the grilling a little,” Jisung butted in, “he’s not the bad guy. Let’s just see what he has to say?” 

Renjun smiled at Jisung from across the table, he had always encouraged Jisung to speak his mind. 

“I uh, actually wrote it down,” Johnny said as he picked up the leather notebook from the table. 

“Love it when they’re prepared,” Chenle smiled. 

Renjun nodded at Johnny, encouraging him to carry on. 

“I went to the carnival on a date with my boyfriend, Taeyong, his name is Taeyong. It was our anniversary so I wanted to do something nice. We were just getting on the ferris wheel when the power went out. We were on the bottom cart. And when the power came back on, he was just gone.”

Mark quirked his eyebrow, “like disappeared out of thin air.” 

“Exactly.” 

“People don’t just disappear out of thin air,” Jaemin crossed his arms over his chest. 

“That’s what the police told me and it’s why I phoned you. I thought if anyone would believe me, it would be you guys.” Johnny played with the straw in his empty cup. “ I bought you this,” Johnny pulled out a photo and a photo to Renjun, “I actually took it that night, before…” 

The man in the photo had big sparkly eyes and a bright smile, the happy look on his tugged at Renjuns heart strings. “Thank you, is there anything else?” 

“I think that’s everything.”

“Do you actually believe him? “ Jaemin asked once they were sitting around their kitchen table. 

Jisung sat at Renjun's side, happily nibbling the chocolate croissant that Renjun had bought for him before they left the café. It was one of Jisung’s favourite treats and Renjun bought it for him whenever they’d visit the spot. 

“I do,” Haechan’s voice pulled Renjun back to the conversation. “He seemed really distraught and I think we should try help him.” 

“Okay fine, just call it already,” Jaemin put his head in his hands, knowing what was coming next.

“Gang, we’ve got a mystery to solve.”

Everyone let out a groan, they’d all heard Haechan’s little catch phrase enough times to annoy them. 

“We’ll lets get to it then,” Jeno was always excited to solve new mysteries. 

So there they sat, in the living room, once again. Renjun stood at the whiteboard in the centre of the room jotting down any information that anyone could remember. On the board he had also stuck the carnival flyer and Taeyongs picture. 

“So we don’t really know that much. We know that there’s no other information about the carnival online, that the ringmaster is the one who talks during the outages- leading us to believe that he is in definitely part of the disappearance- and that Taeyong went missing during the outage.” Renjun read off the blackboard. 

“I think it’s safe to say that Taeyong isn’t the only person missing,” Jeno added, “they probably took someone else the second night as well.” 

“I think we just need to go there and investigate, snoop around a little,” Mark said as he closed his notebook and walked toward the board. “The carnival is running for 2 more nights, it really doesn’t give us much time.” 

Haechan sighed, “you’re right. We need to do something fast.” 

“Let’s go now, before the carnival opens,” Chenle suggested. 

“I agree,” Jeno was already getting off of the couch,the others followed shortly after.

It felt too soon, they didn’t even have a plan. “Hey guys, wait. Don’t you think we should think this through, make a plan? I don’t like this.” 

“We don’t have time Renjun. I know you and your big brain like plans but we just can’t this time.” Haechan spoke as he started looking for his coat. 

Jisung walked up to Renjun, who had still not moved from the board, and gently took his hand. “Hyung, it’s okay. You don’t have to plan everything,” he said softly so that the others wouldn’t hear. 

“I know but I just don’t want anything bad to happen, then it’ll be my fault,” Renjun whispered back.

“No it won’t hyung. You don’t always have to make the plan,” Jisung pulled Renjun gently by his hands. “C’mon, let’s just go.” 

“Give me a foot up,” Haechan said to no one in particular as he tried to hop the fence of the closed carnival. 

Jeno clasped his hands and nodded to his boyfriend to jump up. 

Once Haechan was over he moved away from the fence to scan the area. “It’s all clear, come on over.” 

One by one everyone hopped the fence and landed inside the carnival. 

“Let’s-“ 

“Let’s split up gang, yeah we know the drill,’ Jaemin cut Haechan off. 

“Jisung, Renjun you two go together. You guys know the tent area best now.” Haechan instructed. 

Following their instructions, Renjun and Jisung made their way towards the circus tent. 

“Hey, I just want to make a quick detour,” Renjun led them to the ferris wheel. 

“What are you looking for, Hyung?” Jisung asked after they had hopped the small fence around the wheel. 

“I just, I remember Johnny saying something about Taeyong going missing as they got on the ride and I just couldn’t help but wonder…” Renjun said as he started inspecting the area. “Hey, don’t !” Renjun called when he saw Jisung opening the cart at the bottom of the ride.

“Hyung! Look!” 

On the floor of the cart stood what looked like a hatch. Curious, Renjun pried it open to reveal what looked like another hatch.

“Should we-“ Renjun was cut off by a shrill scream in the distance. 

Chenle. 

Renjun and Jisung shared a fleeting glance and then they both started running as fast as they could towards the noise. 

Suddenly Renjun felt something grab onto him. He couldn’t move. 

He looked over to see what looked like an acrobat holding onto Jisung. He imagined he had something similar holding onto him. 

“My my, look what we have here,” a high pitched airy voice breathed into his ear sending shivers down his spine. 

“It looks like we have some trouble makers.” The one holding onto Jisung said in a much deeper voice. 

“Hey! Let me go!” Jisung tried kicking behind him but the acrobat moved quickly out the way. 

Renjun felt his arms being dragged behind his back and bound together, then his feet were bound. The last thing he saw before being blind folded was Jisung was in the same position. 

Helpless, he let the acrobat drag him. 

Once he was seated his blindfold was removed and he saw that him and Jisung had been shoved on a boat in the tunnel of love together.

The acrobats stood on the front of the raft. They alternated as they spoke. 

“Look at these two.”

“So cute.”

“Did you see them holding hands the other night” 

“I think they’re perfect for each other, don’t you?” 

“Let’s let them ride the love boat then.” 

Then they flipped off the boat and disappeared out of sight as it started moving faster through the dimly lit tunnel. 

“What do we do?” Jisung was trying desperately to free his hands from their binding. He was panicking.

“I-“ Renjun sighed, not really sure what to do. There wasn’t really anywhere for them to go, the platform on either side of the boat had disappeared now and all that surrounded them was water. They could jump off and try to swim but that would be almost impossible with their bound appendages. “We just need to ride it out.”

Jisung looked at Renjun with teary eyes. “Hyung I’m scared. It so tight in here” 

“Hey, Sungie it’s okay,”Renjun mentally kicked himself for not remembering how claustrophobic Jisung was. “Just look at me, don’t think about anything else. Just take deep breaths. We’ll be okay.”

Jisung took a deep, shaky breath and nodded at Renjun’s words. Renjun took a few deep breaths, for Jisung to follow, to try and calm him down more. 

“I’m going to try untie us, okay?” Renjun moved them so that they were back to back before he started pulling at the knot on Jisungs bindings.

Eventually the rope fell loose and Jisung let out a relieved sigh. 

Jisung turned and untied Renjun then they both bent forward to untie their feet. 

Instinctively, Renjun reached for Jisung’s hand and rubbed circles on the back of it. “You okay?” 

“Yeah, thanks Hyung.” Jisung said, but he still didn’t let go of Renjun’s hand. “Look, we’re almost out.”

“When we stop, get straight up and run out. Try find the others, okay?” Renjun was worried about what their friends had been subjected to. He hoped no one was in serious danger.

“What about you?” Jisung furrowed his eyebrows. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be right behind you.” Renjun gave Jisungs hand one last reassuring squeeze before the boat stopped. 

Once it did both of them stood up and hightailed it. Renjun was always making sure to stay slightly behind Jisung to make sure nothing happened to him. 

“Hyung! I think I heard Jeno this way!” Jisung called back to him. 

“I’m following you, just keep going!” 

Jisung turned the corner around one of the booths, disappearing out of Renjun’s sight. Renjun felt his blood turn icy cold when he heard Jisung let out a little scream. He picked up his speed to see that Jisung had bumped into the others members.

Jeno and Haechan looked mostly unscathed, bar for a few scratches and the other 3 were soaking wet.

“Are you two okay?” Mark said and he brushed over Jisung, checking him for any harm. 

“We’re fine, are you all okay?’ Jisung stopped Haechans fussing to look at Jeno.

“We’re fine-“ Haechan motioned for everyone to move into the closest booth and then pulled them down to duck behind the booth counter. 

Renjun peeped through the holes and saw a man in a shiny black coat followed by a small pack of lions. He held his breath.

Once the man was far out of sigh Renjun was the first to speak. “Well that’s not terrifying.” 

“He caught us earlier,” Jeno sighed, “I was kinda fearing for my life.” Haechan ran his hand up and down Jeno’s thigh to comfort him.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Jaemin brushed himself off as he stood up.up

“Agreed,” Chenle said as he offered his hand to help Mark.

“Let’s make a run for it,” Renjun suggested. “The exit is right there.” 

They all agreed and started running, full speed ahead, towards the fence.

Suddenly, all the spotlights came on and pointed directly at them. Everyone froze when they saw the first lion approach them. The others followed shortly after and began to circle them. 

“Well, well, well, look what we have here,” Everyone’s head snapped up to find the ringmaster standing on the roof of one of the booths. Behind him stood the acrobats, the man in the sparkly black jacket and a creepy looking clown. “Now what are we going to do with them?” 

From beside him, Renjun felt Jisung reach out for his hand. 

The acrobats stepped forward. “Look at those two,” the one spoke, “so lovey dovey,” then the other spoke. 

“Enough playing around,” the ringmaster reprimanded. “Let’s finish this already.” 

“Now!” Haechan yelled and everyone covered their eyes, knowing what was coming, they always had this as their failsafe. Chenle threw down the bomb and a bright white light engulfed the area. The lions started freaking out and ran away. The ringmaster and his cronies clutched their eyes and tried to blink away their temporary blindness.

With the distraction, the gang ran to the fence, hopped it and piled into the Dream Machine at lightning speed. 

Everyone sat inside the van, panting filled the air as they tried to catch their breaths and calm themselves. 

“Excuse my language,” Jaemin panted, “but holy shit.” 

“Okay so Jaemin, Chenle and myself were just looking around the food court area, you know where we sat on the first night,” Mark was retelling their side of the story form this afternoon. “And then this creepy clown showed up out of nowhere.” 

“He was really really creepy,” Chenle shuddered.

“Basically, he started running around us, squirting water at us from this toy water gun thing.” Mark continued. 

“It was super weird, like every time one of us ran away he'd just show up in front of us.” Jaemin continued. 

“He only left us alone when the ringmaster called him,” Chenle finished. 

Everyone nodded in understanding. 

Jeno and Haechan began telling their story of how they were looking around the circus tent when the lions started circling them and they had to climb under the grandstands to escape, that’s how they got their scratches. 

“And what happened to you two?” Haechan nodded towards Jisung and Renjun. 

Jisung nodded awkwardly towards Renjun, telling him to recite the events. 

“We were at the ferris wheel and we heard Chenle scream, so we were running to help. Then these acrobats grabbed us and tied us up,” Renjun started.

“What did they do after that?” Mark enquired.

“They-“ Renjun sighed, “they put us on the love boat ride.” From his side he saw Jisung blush slightly and lower his gaze. 

Haechan snickered under his breath. “Well that’s ironic isn’t it.” 

Renjun really hoped that Jisung didn’t hear it and that he also didn’t see the slight grins on the others' faces.

“Anyway, we untied each other and ran to find you as soon as the ride stopped.” Renjun tried to pull everyone back to the matter at hand.

“So, correct me if I’m wrong,” Jeno opened his note book, “were all these people part of the circus show.” 

“Yeah they were,” Chenle confirmed. 

“And was there anyone else in the show?” Renjun stood up to get to the whiteboard. 

“Nope, don’t think so.”

Renjun began scribbling the new information onto the board before he remembered. “Oh my god, wait.”

“What?” Everyone jumped up.

“I’ve been so busy thinking about who the bad guys are, I completely forgot. When we were at the ferris wheel, there was a trap door at the bottom cart. I think that’s how they were taking people.”

Haechan jumped up, “Renjun! You literally figured it out and you forgot to tell us!” 

“Sorry, I was just… kind of fearing for my life for a solid hour.” Renjun scratched his head. 

“Okay well that helps a lot,” Mark stood up and joined Renjun at the board. “We know kinda who the bad guys are and we know how they’re taking them.” 

Renjun started rubbing at the bridge of his nose. “So the first night, if I remember correctly, the outage was at 8. Jisung and I arrived late to the meeting point after we were playing games. The second night it was the same time, I think. We left right after the outage and I sent my mom a message at 8:45 when we arrived home. It was about a 35 minute ride back home and I’d say it took 10 minutes to get into the car. I think it’s safe to say that the outages happen at 8.”

Jeno clapped him on the back, “I knew you were still the brain out of us.”

Renjun smiled, maybe he wasn’t losing his touch after all. 

“So the outage is at 8 and then they take people during the outage?” Mark drew lines to connect the points on the board.

“I think so.” Renjun confirmed. 

“So that brings me to my next point, what is their motivation and who are the bad guys?” Jaemin asked. “Because if I’ve learnt anything it’s that behind all these bad guy masks is some sad, sadistic human being.” 

“I’m going to be honest guys,” Renjun pointed at the carnival flyer, “I don’t think we have enough time to figure it out. Tomorrow is the last night and probably our last chance. 

“Huang Renjun not needing to find out every detail? Is this character development?” Haechan joked. 

“Haha, funny.” 

“We need a plan,” Jisung said out of the blue. 

“We do,” Jeno agreed. 

“Well, I have one but it’s kind of dumb,” Chenle scratched at the back of his neck. Everyone nodded for him to continue. “I think one of us needs to get taken.” 

“Wait, you’re onto something,” Mark encouraged.

They began finalising the plan. It was relatively simple Jisung was going to get on the ferris wheel at exactly 8pm with a wireless micro com in his ear. It didn’t need signal to work and it was so small it wouldn’t be seen and taken away from him, so it was perfect. Mark and Jaemin would be on standby to communicate back to him. 

Renjun would also be on standby, he was going to try to get into wherever the people were being taken, with the help of Jisung. They would get them out. 

Chenle, Jeno and Haechan would be busy trapping the circus performers. Chenle and Jisung came up with the idea to trap them in the backstage tent right after their performance by collapsing the tent and hooking it down. 

It should work. 

Renjun hoped it would work. 

Renjun walked out onto the balcony for some fresh air and was surprised to see Haechan still up so late. 

“I didn’t know you smoked?” Renjun pushed Haechan’s shoulder.

“Only when I’m stressed,” Haechan took another drag of his cigarette, purposefully blowing the smoke in Renjun direction. 

“Maybe I should pick it up, I’ve been awfully stressed lately,” Renjun took a seat across from Haechan at their small outside table. 

“Want a drag?” Haechan offered the cigarette towards Renjun.

He took it, took one drag and began spluttering all over. “I’ll never do that again.” 

Haechan took it back and relaxed into his seat. “So tell me, what brings you here so late?”

“I just needed to think.” 

“About what? Jisung?” Haechan winked at him 

“I-“Renjun stuttered, “no.”

“Seriously though, what’s going on between you two?” 

“Nothing,” Renjun sighed and put his elbows on the table. “It’s just a stupid little crush.”

“And I think Jisung has a stupid little crush on you too.” 

“No way. You’re going senile.” 

“I’m serious,” Haechan put his cigarette out on the corner of the table and threw it into the nearest pot plant. “He looks at you like you hold the stars, haven’t you noticed. I also haven’t seen him holding anyone else’s hand.” 

“What do I even do about this,” Renjun started rubbing at the bridge of his nose again. 

“You literally just need to tell him. If he likes you back, which he does, then you can figure it out from there. And if he doesn’t, then you move on.” 

Renjun sighed again, “when the time’s right.” 

He stood up to go back inside and Hachan reached for his cigarette box again. 

“If you don’t stop smoking, I’ll tell Jeno.”

“Oh, he knows and he thinks it’s sexy,” Haechan winked. 

“Okay okay, I don’t need to hear any more.” 

Renjun was surprised for the second time that night when he saw that Jisung was sitting in bed, wide awake, with only the bedside lamp illuminating the room, scrolling through his phone. 

“Sungie, is everything okay?” Renjun asked as he climbed into his own bed. 

“Yeah, I’m just kinda nervous for tomorrow.” Jisung began playing with the hem of his duvet. 

“About what specifically?” 

“About being taken. Actually I’m really scared Hyung.”

“Hey, come here,” Renjun patted the empty space on his bed. 

Jisung crawled out of his bed and Renjun held up the sheets for him to climb under. 

“You’re going to be okay, I promise,” Renjun moved his hand to Jisung’s. “I’d never let anything happen to you.”

Jisung lent into Renjun and let out a sigh. ”I know Hyung.” 

“Jisung,” Jisung’s head snapped up at the use of his full name, “I, want to try something but, please, stop me if you want.” 

The right time was now.

Renjun turned so that his forehead was against Jisung’s and he slowly leant forward until their lips touched. It was gentle, not much more than a peck but it felt like euphoria to Renjun. He had waited so long for this and the fact that he had finally done it had him feeling on top of the world. 

When they pulled away Jisung grabbed onto the front of Renjun shirt, asking him not to go too far away. “Hyung, I-I never thought you liked me back.”

“Of course I do Sungie,” Renjun pushed their foreheads together again. “I like you so so much.”

Jisung placed another gentle kiss on Renjun’s lips and Renjun held his breath. This was actually happening. They could happen. 

“Hyung, I’m so glad you did that.”

“Me too,” Renjun smiled. “Do you want to sleep here tonight?” 

“Please.”

The next morning Renjun woke later than his usual 6am. It was the best sleep he’s had in months and the first time since he could remember someone else actually had to wake him up. 

“Hey, you two, get up!” Jeno walked into their room and stopped when he saw the two tangled together on the bed. “Oh my god. Did it finally happed?” 

Renjun blinked up at him, his sleep muddled brain still confused.

“Did you two finally figure it out?”

“I think so,” Renjun choked out, finally catching onto what Jeno was implying.

“Oh my god! Everyone quick!’ Jeno screamed and the others quickly came running into the toom. 

“What, what’s wrong?” Haechan panted from running to their room. 

“They figured it out!” Jeno’s words were followed by a chorus of little whoops.

“About damn time,’ Jaemin sighed. 

Jisung retracted into Renjun, burying his head into his shoulder, to try and hide away from their friends, embarrassment consuming him.

When Renjun was dishing up his breakfast later that morning Haechan walking behind him and whispered in his ear, “I told you it’d be fine.” 

Renjun sat at his designated hiding spot in the bushed behind the ferris wheel. From his spot he could see Jaemin and Mark in their hiding spot. He couldn’t see the other 3 but he knew that they were in position to deploy the trap at 8:10 when the second circus show ends. 

“Everyone in position?” Haechan’s voice came through the walkie-talkie clipped onto the front of Renjun’s shirt. 

“Yes,” Jaemin’s voice came through this time. 

“Me too,” Renjun spoke into his. 

His watched showed that it was 7:57 and his heartbeat grew faster with every ticking second.  
Renjun glanced up and saw that Jisung had made it to the front of the line, just in time. 

At 7:59 Jisung began climbing into the cart and as soon as he closed the door, the power went off. 

“Tonight we took our last one.” 

When the power came back on, Jisung was gone. 

Although he knew it was going to happen, Renjun still felt his stomach churn at the thought of him not being there.

“H-hello?” Jisungs voice came through the walkie-talkie and Renjun sighed in relief, he was okay. 

“Jisung? Is everything okay down there?” Mark asked. 

“Yes, I’m fine. Everyone else here is fine too.” 

“What happened ,Jisung?” Jaemin asked this time. 

“It was a trap door and then like a slide. Renjun can open it and slide down.” Jisung suggested. 

Renjun glanced down at his watch 8:08.

“As soon as the other 3 trap the circus freaks I’m coming down.” Renjun spoke into his device. “We just have to wait.” 

Again, Renjun watched anxiously as the seconds passed. 

At 8:10 exactly Renjun heard a loud bang coming from behind him followed by screams and commotion. 

“Renjun go now. I think we’ve got it under control here.” Haechan instructed. 

Without hesitation, Renjun got up from his hiding place and ran the short distance to the ferris wheel. He pushed past the zombie like operator with ease and pushed the big red button, hoping it would stop the ride. It did.

Renjun jumped into the cart and opened the fort door with ease. When he came to the second one, he pulled at it with all the strength he could muster. It didn’t budge. “Come on, please,” he pleaded to no one in particular. 

He gave one final pull and the door flew open he quickly jumped inside and slid down into the darkness. 

When he landed at the bottom he was greeted by a dimly lit room, filled with 5 people, one for each night. 

Renjun ran toward Jisung and pulled him into his chest. “You’re okay, I’m so glad you’re okay.” 

“I’m fine hyung,” Jisung placed a quick kiss on Renjun nose as he pulled out of the hug. “Let’s find a way out of here.”

“Excuse me,” a voice spoke from the corner and Renjun whipped around to see the man he recognised as Taeyong. 

Renjun moved quickly towards him. “You’re Taeyong, right?” The other man nodded. “We met your boyfriend, he helped us find you.”

“H-he did?” Taeyong asked, hugging his arms to his chest. 

“Yup. But we can talk about that later, let’s get out of here.”

“Wait, I need to tell you something.” Taeyong grabbed Renjuns hand as he was about to walk away. Renjun nodded, teling him to continue. “They’re taking people to hypnotise them. I heard them talking about what they were going to do to us. Everyone working here’s been hypnotised.” 

“Do you know how?” Renjun already had his hand on his walkie-talkie, ready to relay the information to the others

“It’s the thing on top of the circus tent, the spinning object. It keeps them hypnotised.” 

Renjun was instantly telling them the new information, “ you have to take it down, it’ll stop it.”

“How do we get out of here?” Someone asked from the other side of the room. 

“I don’t know yet but I’ll figure it out,” Renjun walked towards them to reassure them. “I’m Renjun and that’s Jisung, we’re part of Dream Inc.”

The man nodded signalling he understood. “I’m Doyoung,” the man stuck out his hand. The other two introduced themselves as Xiaojun and Hendery.

Renjun began inspecting the room, trying to find a way out. He stopped at the wall at the far end of the room where he saw one of the bricks sticking out. He bent down and pulled on it. A small section of the wall came with it, revealing a hole for them to climb through. 

One by one they all climbed through, Jisung and Renjun waiting to go last to make sure everyone was safe. 

“Just keep going,” Renjun called out before he turned around to Jisung. “You okay in here?” 

“I’m fine, let’s just get out of here.” Jisung said and he motioned for Renjun to keep crawling down the little passage. 

Eventually Taeyong, at the front, stopped. “There’s another trap door here. 

“Open it,” Renjun called out to him. 

They climbed through the door and came out under the bleachers of the circus tent. 

“Is everyone alright?” Renjun asked and when everyone nodded he grabbed Renjuns hand. “We have to go but please stay safe. We’ll find you later.”

Just before they left the tent, Renjun stopped Jisung. “You did amazing tonight.”

Jisung smiled, “thanks Hyung. You did too.”

Renjun gave him a gentle kiss before they walked out the tent and into chaos. 

The other members were trying to pull down the tent and retrieve the object on top of it. 

“Thank god you’re here!” Mark said as soon as he saw them. 

“What’s happening?” 

“We’re trying to get that thing down, the freaks are well trapped and the cops are on their way. Now can you give us a hand?” Jaemin filled them in. 

Renjun and Jisung each moved to one of the poles holding the tent up.

“On the count of the three.” Haechan instructed. “One, two, three.” 

Everyne began pulling their respective poles out and eventually the tent collapsed. 

Chenle ran quickly over the tent and pulled off the shiny hexagonal object and placed it in his hoodie pocket. 

A confused chatter started to fill the workers came to. 

“Where am I” Renjun heard from somewhere close to behind him. 

The gang moved to a group hug in the middle of the folded tent. Everyone let out a breath of relief when they heard the police sirens drawing closer. They had done what they needed to. 

“We’ll done everyone.” Haechan patted them each on the back. 

Once the cops had arrived they moved back to the trapped circus freaks. 

“Renjun began circling them. “Usually we find out your motives and actual personas first but this time we just couldn’t get it quick enough. That is until Taeyong mentioned hypnosis.”

“What are you talking about Renjun?” Jeno asked. 

“I know who they are, I figured it out. Do you remember that group of hypnotists that got bust for hypnotising people into stealing for them?” 

Everyone nodded. 

“It seems they just rebranded. And they’re still in the ‘hypnotising for money business’. Their plan was somewhat genius actually. They’d constantly move to new towns but every time they moved, they chanted the carnival name and brand. That’s why we couldn’t find them online.

“They’d kidnap people and hypnotise them to work for them. Whether it be by running game booths or operating rides. That spinning thing we took down was the tool that kept everyone here under hypnosis. This was all one giant money making scheme.”

Renjun went around pulling off their masks one by one, to revile their true faces. 

“The ringmaster and the leader, Kun. The acrobats, Ten and Winwin. The animal tamer, Yuta and the clown, Lucas.” 

“We’ll take it from here,” a police officer said from behind Renjun. They began putting the villains in handcuffs and moving htem towards the police cars. 

The leader turned around one last time to snarl at them. “We would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!” 

“Never heard that one before,” Jaemin chuckled. 

Everyone let out a laugh. 

Renjun felt so relieved, so happy that he just reached for Jisung and kissed him. Right then and there. 

They were bombarded with a plethora of flashes from cameras and reporters screamin questions at them. The members let out whoops and cheers. 

Jisung leant down to rest his forehead against Renjuns. 

“Guess who’s making the front page.”

**Author's Note:**

> I really had so much fun writing this fic! 
> 
> I’d love to hear feedback so kudos and comments are greatly appreciated :)


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